


Feels Like Home

by blasphemous



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Bonding, But not so grumpy, Christmas Fluff, First Kisses, Fluff, Grumpy Alec Lightwood, M/M, Neighbours, Pizza
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-02 18:38:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16792507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blasphemous/pseuds/blasphemous
Summary: What's a better way to spend Christmas than with your (supposedly) grumpy neighbour and his even grumpier cat?





	Feels Like Home

Magnus knew he was being a little selfish and immature right now. Catarina was a nurse, she was _required_ at the hospital. 

Even if it was Christmas Eve. And she _did_ promise to drop by as soon as she can.

Raphael had voyaged his way to England, where he was to spend the holiday with his younger sister, Rosa, who had just gotten out of a bad relationship and needed to find her ground.

Ragnor didn’t even bother elaborating on his excuse, acting like he and Magnus weren’t childhood friends and Magnus didn’t hear how utterly _smitten_ he had sounded as he stammered over his half-assed explanation. 

In all honesty, Magnus was starting to get used to spending Christmas alone, in the comfort of his home with his fluffy maroon pyjamas on and a hot drink that was better off a hand-warmer than a beverage. 

The only good thing about spending Christmas at home was that the pizza shops were faster at delivery. 

Magnus hissed excitedly when the doorbell rang and sat up, placing his empty mug on the coffee table and bringing himself to his feet. He made his way over to the door, robe flying behind him, and flung it open with a wide grin. 

“Good evening, my dear,” he subliminally greeted the delivery boy standing at his door, who looked beyond done with everything going on around him. But once he saw Magnus, he gave a small nod and smile of acknowledgment, holding the pizza out. “That would be thirteen dollars, twenty-six, sir.” 

Magnus hummed, patting himself down before lifting a ‘hold on a moment’ finger and shutting the door. 

When he returned however, the delivery boy was gone, and the pizza lay on the floor unharmed. 

Across the hall, Magnus’ neighbour was pulling his key out of his olive-green puffer jacket, his back to Magnus. He seemed in a hurry, but not too much of a hurry not to know how the delivery boy had mysteriously disappeared. “Did you happen to see where the delivery boy standing at my door went?”

Alec stiffened, his back still to Magnus, before he looked over his shoulder. “No” he replied tersely. It was the longest Magnus had gotten from him since he moved in across from his apartment. “Merry Christmas.” 

Then he was behind the blank, closed door of his flat, leaving Magnus with a warm smile and a too-big-for-one-person box of pizza in his hands. 

He stepped back into his own home, smile not leaving his face as he set the pizza down on the table between his couch and the television.

He moved to sit but paused in a moment of contemplation, eyes drifting to the front door.

With a resigned sigh, he sauntered his way back to the door and opened it, swiftly approaching Alec’s. He took a deep, composing breath and lifted a hand, clenching it into a duke. His nails pressed firmly against his palm, as firm as the press of his lips. 

Then he knocked. Once, at first, knowing Alec probably didn’t even hear it. 

_Shy, are we, Bane?_ he thought to himself. And with that taunting thought, he knocked three times, making sure the three-piece had a pretty tune. 

He heard some shuffling inside, followed by footsteps, drawing closer to the door. He rolled his shoulders back, as though his fluffy maroon pyjamas, matching slippers and a silken navy nightgown that didn’t suit the rest of his clothes half as much as he wanted weren't enough to damage his reputation of being the best-dressed man in the building.

The door opened slightly, hauling Magnus out of his thoughts. He was met with a surprised eye peeping through the gap between the doorframe and door, a golden chain hanging between the two. “Uh..hello?”

Magnus cleared his throat, taking a minute step back. “Hi” he replied politely, “I’m sorry, are you expecting someone?”

Alec’s eye blinked, what can be seen of his lips parting. “No..” he eventually said, word tailing away breathlessly.

“Oh” Magnus swiped his tongue over his lips, “well, are you busy?” he could feel heat rise to his cheeks despite the glacial weather. Before Alec could reply, Magnus went on. “I bought a pizza that’s too big for one. Would you…” he took in the confused look on his neighbour’s face and knew his point was lost on Alec. “Would you like to come over?” he sighed, question leaving him as a sigh that must’ve come off as an obligatory request given the way Alec slammed the door shut.

By that point, Magnus wanted to kick himself for even considering leaving the cosiness of his home in an attempt of befriending his grumpy, reticent neighbour.

He straightened his back, gathering the shreds of his dignity and turning to go back home. 

The door behind him swung open. 

“I wouldn’t want to burden you” Alec’s voice was shy and calm as he spoke and Magnus’ heart leapt in his chest at how _soft_ he sounded. 

He turned around, spinning on the heel of his comfy slippers. “Don’t be silly, darling” he said with redeemed confidence. He wanted to go on and tell Alec how much he appreciated the company on such a _cold, snowy night,_ but a big grey Persian cat cut him short as it strutted out of Alec’s house and into his own, not sparing either of them a single glance. 

He and Alec were both quiet as their eyes followed the pompous cat. When the feline was safe in Magnus’ home, Magnus looked at Alec, lips parting around his confusion. 

Alec ruffled the front of his hair shyly. 

“Did a cat wearing a shako just leave your apartment and enter mine or is my mind playing tricks on me?” Magnus couldn’t hold back the amused smile as he watched Alec rub the back of his neck, a warm flush rosing his cheeks under Magnus’ gaze. 

“Yeah… I’m sorry about that. He really lacks etiquette,” Alec paused for a second, then a wide toothy grin broke on his face and _god, Magnus was about to faint._ “And all Santa hats were out of stock.”

Magnus couldn’t help the laugh that left him, hand lifting to cover his mouth. Alec joined in a second later, leaning against his doorjamb with his head tilted against it and his legs crossed at the ankles. 

When their laughs quieted down, Magnus looked at Alec, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. Alec’s eyes briefly flickered down before he caught himself and looked over Magnus’ shoulder. “But uh… if you uh, have allergies or a phobia or anything, I could bring him back and put him to bed.”

Magnus swallowed, trying to block out the image of Alec putting his cat to sleep. He shook his head. “None of that. I actually have a cat of my own.”

Alec blinked, standing upright. “You do?”

Magnus nodded, pointing his thumb behind him. “Yes. Would you… Do you want to come in and see him?” he asked. 

Alec nodded, running a hand up the opposite arm. “I’d like that” he said gently, closing the door behind him. 

…

Magnus put down the crust of the last pizza-slice, chewing as he slumped back against the armrest and watched Alec lick his fingers before wiping his hands down his jeans. Then he caught Magnus looking and let out a “that was disgusting, I’m sorry.”

Magnus chuckled, spreading his legs in front of him. He stopped short of Alec’s lap, black-varnished toe poking his thigh playfully. “When I said ‘make yourself at home’, I meant it” he winked with a smile. 

Alec replied in kind, smile reaching his eyes and making them crinkle at the sides. Then he looked at Magnus’ feet, clad with toeless socks that would’ve been the ugliest things Alec’s ever lay eyes on if they weren’t worn by such a beautiful man.

“Ragnor bought them for me,” Magnus averred, “I didn’t buy him a present for his birthday, so he decided to buy me the ugliest thing he could find” he wiggled his toes pointedly as Alec absentmindedly ran a hand over the thick wool of the footwear. Magnus tried ignoring the warmth seeping through. “Little did he know that I can make anything look pretty.”

Alec hummed, nodding to himself as he looked back at his neighbour. “Ragnor?” he asked, the intensity of his eyes making Magnus’ heart beat just a little faster. 

“A dear friend of mine” He said. “He’s off with a lover. My friends don’t deserve me” he muttered the last part warm-heartedly, thumbs fiddling. 

“I’m sorry you had to spend Christmas alone” Alec apologised. 

“I’m not alone” Magnus countered. “You’re here.”

Alec’s cheeks tinted a light shade of pink, smile unwavering. 

“And while we’re on the subject, I do have a few questions for you” Magnus pulled his legs away and sat up, folding them beneath him. 

“Shoot” Alec gave Magnus finger-guns with a squinted eye and Magnus couldn’t believe how such a simple gesture could have butterflies swarming in his gut. _The power of finger-guns._

“Before tonight, avoiding slash ignoring me was some sort of hobby of yours,” Magnus started, his hands pressed together and sandwiched between his thighs for warmth. “Have I done anything that may have formed a bad impression of me?”

Alec fell silent for a moment, and just as Magnus was on the verge of taking his question back, not wanting to damage the comfortable amity between them, Alec spoke. “I really didn’t mean to give you the feeling that you'd done something wrong” he mumbled. “When we were in the elevator last week, I was having a really, really bad day and I didn’t want to say anything that would come off as rude or offensive or anything. I didn’t wanna snap, especially since…” he trailed off, ducking his head. He didn’t finish the sentence though, starting with the next. “I know how everyone on this floor thinks I’m grumpy and stuck-up.”

Magnus’ brows rose. “Oh, no” he said, offended, “I heard even the floor above us--”

Alec leant over to slap his thigh playfully, making Magnus chuckle. “Anyway” Alec sighed, shoulders slacking as he picked at a stray thread on his grey joggers. “I’m not. I mean, yeah, I’m a Lightwood. Yeah, my parents are something big, but if I were as arrogant as people think I am, would I even be here? I’d be off in some villa with seventy-three maids and a manservant who ties my shoelaces whenever they unknot themselves.”

Magnus smiled, propping his chin on his palm with his elbow steady on the backrest of the couch they sat on. 

“Feel better?”

Alec smirked. “Much. Next question?”

“Why are you spending Christmas alone?” 

“Ah” Alec adjusted his position so his back was against the armrest, toeing off his trainers to lift his socked feet onto the sofa. Magnus paid the one-grey-one-black socks a single glance before looking back at Alec. “Izzy’s on her honeymoon, she insisted on a winter wedding. Maryse- mom- she and her fiancé went to spend the holidays in Malta. Robert, uh, he didn’t really want to see me. Max, the lucky bastard, is abroad for uni. He’s visiting on New Year’s, though. Annnd I just came back from Jace’s.”

“That’s..” Magnus cleared his throat, “that’s nice.”

“Is it?” Alec echoed, sarcastic. “You don’t have to say all that. Our family is fucked... I mean, we _are_ a close family, always within punching distance, but we have our moments.. Enough about me, what about you? Family?”

Magnus parted his lips, then pressed them together, not knowing how to broach the subject of his family without ruining the mood or making things awkward. “My mother passed away when I was a child and my father, hm..” he squinted an eye reflectively, “I have no idea where he is. Last I heard, he got married and has three little ones.”

“Oh” Alec scowled, regretting his question. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“I can’t believe you quoted Peaky Blinders just then. You truly know the way to a gentleman’s heart.”

Alec groaned. “I was hoping you wouldn't catch that but you really do have taste, don’t you?”

A brief, affectionate silence ensued as they looked at each other before Magnus reached for the remote control and lowered the volume of whatever was on. “How about you get off that cute butt of yours and make us a mug of hot chocolate each?” he asked, batting his eyelashes charmingly.

Alec gasped in faux offence. “Magnus Bane! Are you using blandishment as a manipulation technique?”

Magnus threw his head back with a throaty laugh, fingers running through Church’s fur, who had just jumped up to collect his daily dose of affection. Alec scowled at his cat, but all his contempt dispelled when he saw the way Magnus laughed, open and alive and so so fucking beautiful.

...

“It was really nice spending the evening with you, Alexander” Magnus said as he lifted the coat off the hook. A paper leafed out of it and Magnus' eyes followed, head tilted. “What’s this?” 

Alec was quick to lift it off the ground and scrunch it tightly in his fist. “Nothing” he said, hand clenched at his side. 

Magnus pressed his lips together, holding back a laugh at Alec’s childish behaviour. “If I’m not mistaken, that was the receipt from the pizza shop.”

Alec puffed his cheeks, not wanting to deny nor confirm the accusation. 

Magnus shook his head, fond more than exasperated. Then he pressed the jacket into Alec’s hand. “Maybe next time we’re taking the elevator down, we’ll talk?”

Alec nodded, folding his jacket over his arm. “Sure.”

Before leaving, he made sure to strengthen Magnus' infatuation and squatted down to tickle the Chairman under his chin, murmuring a goodbye. 

A minute after Alec left, he was knocking on the door again and Magnus, having not moved, waited a few seconds before pulling the door open. “Miss me already?” he playfully said. Alec had discarded his jacket in his house and had undone the first few buttons of his shirt, drawing Magnus’ eyes to the sparse of hair there.

“Um, no. I forgot Church” Alec explained, pulling Magnus’ attention away from his sexily dishevelled look. 

“Ah! Of course!” he didn’t need to move, both of them watching the cat walk out of Magnus’ flat and into Alec’s looking scruffy with no hat propped on his head. 

“There he is!” Magnus waved a hand as the grey cat disappeared through the door. He looked back at Alec, whose attention seemed to be solely fixed on him. “Good night, Alexander.”

The second time the door knocked that night, it was roughly an hour later, and Magnus really really couldn’t even find it in him to complain about having to go through the ordeal of unbolting all the locks and unhooking the chains on his door. Not when Alec was standing on the other side with woollen navy pyjamas on, matching his slippers with them and a silken sleep eye mask on his forehead, pushing his hair back. 

“You’re here for the shako hat, I presume?”

Alec huffed a light-hearted laugh, shaking his head. “I’m actually here for you.”

Magnus arched a brow. “Me?” he repeated.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep” Alec dented his lower lip with his teeth, looking unsure. “I was wondering if you… if _we_ … if tonight was...?”

Magnus inclined his head, encouraging him to go on. 

Alec sighed, lifting a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I just want to know if you’d like to…” he rolled his shoulders, straightening his back. “My words are failing me.”

Magnus’ brows furrowed in worry. “Alexander, what is it?”

Alec stepped closer, his gaze dropping to Magnus’ lips. Magnus swallowed, his own eyes drooping with a mixture of exhaustion and so much _want_. He didn’t know what Alec was aiming at, but stepped closer anyway, halfway out of his home.

With barely a footstep between them, Alec lifted a hand, curling his fingers and resting them lightly against Magnus’ cheek. “I..um, can I..?”

Magnus leant lightly into the touch. “I’d be deeply wounded if you didn’t.”

Then Alec’s lips were brushing over his, gentle and so warm that Magnus’ eyes fluttered shut, head tilting to finally press their mouths together. 

It was soft, hesitant at first. Then Alec’s hands were cupping Magnus’ neck, Magnus’ own sliding the eye mask off Alec’s head and running through his soft, messy hair. 

They pulled a centimetre apart, breaths mingling between them. Alec’s eyes were closed, thumb running over Magnus’ jaw. Magnus mischievously flicked his tongue against the seam of Alec’s lips. “I like your words’ inefficiency” he breathed out, words fanning over Alec’s damp lips. 

Alec laughed, sliding his eyes open. “In case I didn’t get my point across,” he whispered, “I really, really like you.”

Magnus disentangled his fingers from Alec’s hair, lowering a hand to trace Alec’s bottom lip with a thumb. “In case my point wasn’t clear” he looked up into Alec’s hazels. “I really, really like you too.” A pause, then, “even if you picked the pineapples out of your pizza.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [twitter!](https://mobile.twitter.com/cardanscrown)


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